Chapter 7 New Beggining

Onyx POV

I smiled at Logan, blissfully ignoring the rest of the group until a certain file came up. "GEM."

I bolted upright. "Genetically Engineered Mutations. Designed to infuse humans with mutations."

Professor raised an eyebrow. "I take it you know something about this project?"

I nodded. "My friends were its victims. I met them when I was first captured by Stryker."

"Rogue tells me they escaped. Do you have any idea where they might be?"

I shook my head sadly. "Wherever they are, they'll be together. Ruby will make sure at that."

"Ruby?"

"She is the leader of the four. Jade is the brawn. Amber is the heart. Sapphire is the energy."

"Ruby, Sapphire, Amber and Jade?"

"They're GEMs." I smiled a bit.

The professor steepled his fingers. "I believe we need to keep a vigilant eye. Stryker may be dead, but we must not take any chances. In order to ensure their safely, we need to find them."

I nodded. "Of course. I'll get my contacts on it."

He looked amused. "I could just use Cerebro."

"Trust me, with Stryker's handiwork, nothing is easy. I'll go ahead and begin the search. You begin yours. It'll go faster that way."

The professor nodded his head slowly. "Very well. Proceed."

I had some calls to make. Logan wasn't going to like this.

Amber POV

I quickly caught up with the three who had became my friends since our entrapment in Stryker's lab. "Ey, Amber. Whot took you so long? I 'aven't 'ad a good meal in forever. Let's get a move on!"

I smiled at Jade's ability to act like we hadn't been trapped in a prison for the past however many years. How long had we been in that terrible place? Sapphire giggled, her dirty red hair flying as she spun. "We're free gals! Oy! It feels fantastic!"

She perked up and suddenly threw a snowball at an unsuspecting Jade. "Ey! Watch it pipsqueak."

Ruby smiled at their antics before turning to me. "Did it work?"

I nodded. "I think so. Thanks for the diversion."

"No problem." She nodded. "Now, onto more important things. I think we need to get clean and find food."

Sapphire nodded. "I second that motion. Prison food for the genetic experiments is absolutely awful."

Jade smirked. "Not to mention we look and smell like shite."

Ruby grimaced. "Yes… afterwards we'll need a place to stay, even if temporarily."

Sapphire's grin dropped. "Are we…separating?"

Silence came over us. We hadn't been apart in years. We didn't even have any idea what had gone on in the world. Nervously, I spoke up. "What chance do we have separated? I have nowhere. I didn't have any family before I was kidnapped. My job was crap and my friends are you guys."

Sapphire nodded. "Same here. I was on my own for years before Stryker kidnapped me. I came to the states for holiday but nobody is there to look for me."

Jade frowned. "I didn't like people. Still don't. You three are a rare exception. Consider yourselves lucky."

Sapphire nodded solemnly. "Oh, we do. How would I live without your approval?"

I cut her off. "Ruby? What are we going to do?"

She sighed. " I have a house in New Orleans. It should still be there. If it is, then we can stay there."

Sapphire grinned. "Yes! I've always wanted to go there…" I nodded my agreement.

"What about you, Jade? Are you up for a road trip?"

"Eh, why not. Not like I had a hot date planned or nothing." I laughed. And why not? We were together and free. Why shouldn't we laugh?

So we began our trek with a relatively joyful attitude. But it wasn't to last. The mood quickly changed when Amber slipped on the cliff edge and fell, a helpless shriek echoing throughout the landscape.

Sapphire POV

Well, wasn't this an interesting turn of events.

I looked down at my friend's astonished faces as I flew above their heads. Why? Cause somehow I'd become three inches tall. Oh, and those itchy designs on my back? Turns out they become wings.

"Amber, get down from there!"

I giggled as I fluttered around my friend's heads. "BUZZZZZZ!"

Jade swatted me viciously and I stuck my tongue out at her, not that she could see it. I'd been growing concerned when my friends received their super advanced cool powers. Then that concern kinda flew (heehee. Flew, get it?) out the window when I fell off that cliff. Snow was slippery!

Anyway, I was expecting to plummet to my death when I found out I had these super cool fairy powers…Actually, when you say it like that, it's nowhere near as cool. As I landed on the ground next to Amber, I returned to my original height, which wasn't much to begin with. I felt my wings grow smaller, but they were still there.

I did a little happy dance. "This is sooo cool!"

Ruby tried to hide her smile. "Congratulations?"

"Please my powers are by far the most amazing, and you know it. You read minds. Yah, alright that's cool. But I can fly." Hey, if I was gonna get kidnapped by a creeper and then get tested on, I might as well enjoy what I get out of it. Jade rolled her eyes.

So far during our trek we'd each discovered what Stryker meant by advanced powers. Amber could now teleport short distances, sense mutants and even mellow out their powers. She said it hurt a lot when she touched them to mellow them out, and she didn't do it often. Ruby was like a jedi almost. She could clear peoples minds, read some thoughts, and project images. The images were a lot better than the ones from before. Think high school A.V. club versus billion dollar special effects.

Jade was more… animally? Is that a word? Oh, feral, I guess. She's really good at blending in and her senses are even more advanced. And another thing that's nifty is she heals. Not super fast, but faster than normal. She also says that pain is less, well, painful. And of course I'm a fairy…ok. I really need to come up with a cooler title. But I guess that's the best description. Oh! And I'm like Dr. Doolittle. Well, sorta. I can communicate with animals, but not talk to them. Words don't work with animals, but I can interpret their sounds, body language, ect and vice versa.

We made it through the Candadian border, thanks to a combination of Amber teleportation, my flying, Jade's stealth and the Jedi skills of Ruby.

Man, now Jedi skills sounds sooo much better than fairy powers…darn.

Anyways, Ruby convinced a very nice bus driver that we didn't need money to get to New Orleans. (Yeah, now I'm totally jealous of her Jedi powers… I guess she's not totally a Jedi since she can't move things with the Force,so…)

As we approached Ruby's house Amber frowned slightly. "There is a mutant inside."

"What?" Ruby frowned. "Everyone watch their back. If Stryker sent one of his goons ahead of us we need to be on our guard."

Jade sneered. "I'd like to see them try to take us again."

Amber frowned. "Be wary of what you wish for, Jade…I can't seem to understand this one's powers."

We stepped inside warily. I shrunk down and flew ahead of the rest. "All clear." I threw my voice towards them. I'd always loved ventriloquism. Jade jumped slightly but recovered and followed directly behind me. A shadow moved to my right and I yelled for the others.

The shadowy figure turned to run. Amber shouted "Stop!" As if that would do any good. Imagine my surprise when the figure did stop.

"Now turn around and stand still." The figure, who on closer inspection was a girl about our age, did just that. Her scared eyes looked nervously between us.

Jade frowned, obviously upset about not getting a fight. "What the 'eck is goin on?"

Amber frowned. "Tell us why you are here."

The girl pursed her lips. "I have nowhere else. My curse makes living amongst others extremely dangerous for me and them."

Ruby cocked her head. "What are your powers, child?"

The girl hung her head in shame. "It is not a power. It is a curse."

"Please."

She sighed heavily. "I have no choice but to do as others want. Whether a spoken or unspoken command, I know what they truly want and I have to do it. If it is beyond my ability to do so, or I try not to, unspeakable pain flows through my very being."

I gasped. "You poor girl! "

I rushed to hug the girl, growing my proper size. She stiffened before relaxing slightly. When I pulled back, I noticed Amber looked thoughtful. "If regulated, this could indeed be a power. You said you would know what they wanted even if it was an unspoken request?"

She nodded. Amber continued. "Well, you would be a great hotel manager or restaurant hostess if you could know what the customer wanted before hand. Would you like be helped?"

The girl nodded hesitantly. Amber sighed. "I think I can do it."

I gasped. "But Amber! You'll get hurt! Remember whot 'appened last time?"

She shook her head. "It will be worth it, and it is only until she gets control of her powers on her own."

I looked at Ruby who was nodding slightly. "If Amber is willing to risk it, we should let her. But if a single thing goes wrong…"

The girl nodded, with tears of gratefulness in her eyes. "I will never be able to repay you."

Amber smiled sadly. "Don't thank me yet. Now, this will hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you..." She winced. "…literally."

She placed her hands on the girl's skin and suddenly the girl became ten times more relaxed. Her eyes darted between us. "Quick! Tell me to do something."

Jade thought for a moment. "Go stand on your 'ead an' count to fifty."

The girl beamed, blatantly refusing the request. "It worked!" She hugged Amber who was swaying slightly. Amber patted her head.. "What is your name?"

"Ella."

Ruby nodded. "Well, welcome to the family, Ella."

Life was about to get interesting. (well, more interesting than it already was for 4 genetically engineered science projects)

Onyx POV

My phone rang and I stepped aside to receive the call. Only two people knew this number. "Hello?"

A gruff voice at the other end chuckled. "How's the runt treatin ya, Onyx?"

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up. Do you have the information or not?"

"Who are you talking to? Of course I do. How are you holding up after Liberty Island?"

I rubbed my arms. "Fine. I'm still ticked about that, by the way."

"I'm nearly insulted you didn't recognize me."

"You had cave man eyebrows and hair down to your butt. Somewhat different than your buzz cut and leather duster. Not to mention you smelled like a 3 week old carcass."

"How you flatter."

"Whatever, just send me the location."
"Heck no. You've got me curious. Me and the frog want to tag along."

"No! Are you crazy? Logan will kill you!"

"He can try." I growled softly into the phone.

"Ugh. Fine. Whatever. Pick a meeting point and be on your best behavior."

"Always am."

I groaned as he hung up. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Footsteps approached and I felt familiar arms circle my waist. "You okay darlin?"

I nodded, grimacing. "I got the location. I should probably tell the professor."

"Hmm… don't stress. It's just a regular check up job. It'll be a piece of cake. No complications."

Man, he was really good at making me feel guilty when he wasn't even trying.